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Hera Queen of Olympus
QHera Queen of the Olympians Hera a prominent elder Olympian goddess and a consort and sister of Zeus, although as a goddess she was not outright malevolent, she was known to be a vengeful being and was especially cruel towards those who crossed her: she was known for her tendency to curse others as well as her hatred towards Heracles (who was a reminder of Zeus' continual mating with mortals), who she often fought against or foiled in some manner. Hera had been approached many times by Zeus wishing to bed her but Hera refused each advance, on Hera's part this was because as goddess of marriage she had high standards and wanted to remain a virgin goddess as a paragon of Greek woman-hood, however Zeus believed Hera was just playing hard to get and was quite smitten with her. One night Hera found a small bird caught in a great storm and took the poor thing in to nurse it back to health until the storm passed and fell asleep warming it in her breast. When Hera awoke she found Zeus next to her, he had taken the form of the bird and reverted to his true form in the night while Hera slept having his way with her. Hera was horrified but the joke was on the sly god, for as goddess of marriage Hera refused to be defiled by anyone who was not her husband and the only way to stop the height of anger and wrath from Hera was for Zeus to marry her. Though the two had a less than romantic start Hera and Zeus were said to be quite in love, in fact after the wedding Zeus and Hera are said to have gone on a one-hundred year honeymoon filled with romance and sex the likes of which no mortal man or woman could comprehend. After they returned they remained happily married for a time but Zeus's attention wandered considerably. The more Zeus's became a slave to his libeto the more Hera became a slave to her vengeance. Hera and Argos One of Zeus's most notorious affairs was with Io a mortal woman. Unlike most other affairs Zeus developed actual feelings for Io and was considering leaving Hera for her. Hera found out about the affair and proceeded to catch Zeus in the act. When Zeus heard Hera arriving he turned Io into a cow in the heat of the moment to cover up the affair. When Hera arrived she saw Zeus simply standing next to a cow but was perceptive enough to piece together what Zeus had done. Hera inquired about what Zeus was doing with the cow and in an effort to deflect Hera's aggression Zeus said he was just selecting a gift/pet for her (Cows were an acceptable sacrifice in ancient Greece a symbol associated with woman-hood and birth). Hera slyly accepted the gift and decided to take Io from Zeus, where she would keep the cow under lock and key and perhaps later eat it. Zeus began to object but when Hera coyly inquired why, Zeus saw he was trapped and had to let her take Io. Name: Hera Origin: Gender: Female Classification: Olympian God Age: Unknown Echidna Zeus was made king of Olympus when he had defeated Cronus his father and freed his siblings,Zeus was protected by Gaea his grandmother while he grew up and told of his grandfather Uranus; Uranus had imprisoned Gaea's monstrous children for not being beautiful enough to walk upon her. Gaea gave her son Cronus a powerful magic within his scythe that would wound even Uranus and told him to use it to force his father to free his monstrous brothers and sisters, but Cronus instead used the scythe to castrate Uranus and banish him leaving Cronus his powers and throne as king of the titans, worse still Cronus kept his sibling imprisoned in Tartarus feeling the creatures were far too ugly to be seen with him and his more beautiful siblings. Gaea looked after Zeus as he grew but made him promise that when he came of age to take on his father he would free his monstrous uncles and aunts imprisoned in Tartarus. Sure enough Zeus kept his word and freed the more ugly titans to side with him in overthrowing Cronus and the other titans. But Zeus imprisoned the titans in Tartarus in their place as they were far too powerful and would surely seek vengeance if left free, it was this act that inspired Gaea's wrath yet again and lead to the creation of Echidna and Typhon the world's first monsters and Gaea's last children. Typhon was a giant one-hundred headed dragon with claws, wings and firey breath coming from each mouth. Echidna was a giant snake like nymph goddess with many breasts, multiple testicle-like arms and venomous breath. Gaea birthed and raised him to take revenge on the Olympians for freeing half her children only to imprison the other half. Typhon and Echidna grew and evetually were sent to destroy their way to Olympus but Echidna was pregant with Typhon's brood and half-way there Echidna had to turn back and find a cave to hide in as she went into labor. Typhon fought the gods but was eventually defeated by Zeus who threw a mountain on top of him a volcano whose flames and smoke were said to be Typhon's wrath from deep below. When Zeus tracked down Echidna he saw her with her brood of monsters, but Echidna had just given birth and was in no condition to fight. But as Zeus was about to coup-de-grâce Echidna Hera held Zeus back and forbade him to strike, for though Typhone and Echidna would surely have set out to destroy her too Echidna had not fought and more importantly was a new mother and for whatever else Hera was she was still guardian of pregnancy. Zeus spared Echidna for Hera and let the monsters grow that one day perhaps they would prove suitable challenges for mortal heroes to overcome and prove their worth. Echidna was overcome with relief and became good friends with Hera and her most loyal non-human worshiper. In gratitude for Hera's noble deed Echidna gave Hera her first born son Cerberus, Hera was disgusted with the three headed wolf-hound and not wanting to offend her new, ally simply passed it along to her brother Hades rather than give Cerberus back or kill him. Echidna became the mother of all monsters, she pledged all her children to Hera and through her Hera gained the service of just about all the word's monsters. Powers and Abilities Hera being a Elder Olympian goddess was of-course immortal and possessed a certain degree omniscience, though mostly for mortal affairs as Zeus and other gods continually snuck around to avoid her. Hera was said to have power over women's menstruation cycle and could make it easier or harder depending on the woman (women who suffered more painful periods were said to be being punished by Hera for doing something unladylike, such as prostitution.) Unions were required to be blessed by Hera to officially be recognized as marriages even for immigrants to Greece with different gods. Those that broke their marriage oaths were said to be cursed with strife and hardship until the oath was either mended or a substantial offering was made at a temple of Hera to appease her wrath, even if a marriage did not last oaths broken during marriage were said to curse the offending spouse long after the separation and into new marriages if the offense was not made right. Hera drove Heracles to madness and made him kill his family and many Athenian plays portrayed Hera's favored power as a combination of illusion, hypnotism and mind control. Hera's temper was feared by Zeus and most of his children, god and mortal alike; one poem describes her as burning with rage so hot it was if unseen fires filled the air around her tearing at the surrounding room. One of Hera's fall-back punishment methods once catching a mortal outright insulting or undermining her was to transform them into something non-human, such as live-stock, a monster or even stone. Like Zeus Hera assumed many forms to interact with the mortal world in secret though usually it was to spy on Zeus or ease-drop on followers she suspected of disloyalty. Monster Conjuration: Hera could summon any living monster and thanks to Echinda had their complete loyalty. Menstruation Manipulation: Hera could grant women easy or hard periods. Child Birth: No child could be born without Hera or one of her nymph handmaidens present during the labor. Luck Manipulation: Hera's duties to mankind were subtler than her siblings, people blessed by Hera were said to just seem to be lucky. However this meant that when angered Hera levied curses of misfortune upon those that offended her. Shape shifting: Hera disguised herself as random mortals to spy on followers. Transmutation: Hera had the power to change mortals into a variety of animals, objects or monsters. Mind Control: Hera could seize control of a mortal's mind for brief periods, or simply drive them permanently mad. Apples of the Hesperides: Hera was given a magical bush of golden apples by Gaea as a wedding present. The apples were said to be able to restore one's youth. Super strength, speed, and durability, immortality and can banish other gods using a special kind of fire, can give immortality or take it from lesser beings, reality warping, teleportation of herself and others, matter manipulation, petrification, can shoot energy blasts, weather manipulation, soul manipulation, mind manipulation, her blood can act as poison, time manipulation of various forms (can stop time, travel through time, BFR others through time, create time loops and is immune to time stops), illusion creation, elemental manipulation, telekinesis, shapeshifting, resurrection of the dead, can become intangible, can become invisible, enhanced senses, can create Enforcers out of water or fire, dimensional manipulation, can open portals to other dimensions, and with assistance, other universes, telekinesis Weaknesses: older and more powerful beings and magic Destructive Capacity: At least city level+, likely much higher (can create storms and earthquakes easily, Poseidon's powers arranged for the possibility of freezing/warming the oceans) Range: At least several hundred kilometers Speed: Superhuman movement speed, faster than the eye+ reactions/reflexes Durability: At least building level+, immortality makes her difficult to kill Lifting Strength: At least several tons Striking Strength: At least Class KJ Stamina: Essentially limitless Standard Equipment: Nothing notable Intelligence: Millennia of wisdom as the queen of the gods, her perch on Olympus allows him to see most of the goings-on in the world